


A Game of Strategy and Heart

by Fangirlshrewt97



Series: Nile Freeman's Guide to Down Time with Immortal Warriors [4]
Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Brother-Sister Relationships, Chess, Family Bonding, Fluff, Gen, Joe gets to share and teach his favorite game to his newest sister!, M/M, Mild Language, Teaching, Team Bonding, Team as Family, Teasing, history lesson, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:14:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25786423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fangirlshrewt97/pseuds/Fangirlshrewt97
Summary: “I’m fine Joe.” she said, emphasizing the words to make sure they got through.Joe’s lips quirked up as he entered the room further, till he was leaning against the edge of the bed.“Sure?”“Well, I am contemplating experimenting with different ways to die just to test them out you know. Was thinking of writing a list I could work down.”Joe laughed. “If you want to be creative about it, I think there is a phone game called Dumb Ways to Die?”Nile huffed a laugh. “I’ll check it out.”“Hmm.” Joe said, crossing his arms. “Bored, are you?”“Out of my mind.” Nile admitted.Joe seemed to think for a moment before nodding. “Right. Come on, I think I have a cure for your boredom.”Basically, while waiting at Copley's house for a mission, Nile gets bored, and Joe invites her to play his favorite game.(Can be read as stand-alone)
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, Nile Freeman & Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani, Nile Freeman & Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani & Nicky | Nicolo di Genova
Series: Nile Freeman's Guide to Down Time with Immortal Warriors [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1851712
Comments: 46
Kudos: 362





	A Game of Strategy and Heart

**Author's Note:**

> Dear Reader,
> 
> This entry gave me so much trouble, I had the idea in my head but couldn't figure out where to start! I hope you enjoy it, and if you do, please let me know with kudos/comments (which can include keyboard smashes, one word comments, or favorite lines!)  
> Points if anyone catches the reason why Nile calls him an incurable romantic at the end of the story (in reference to something that happens earlier)!  
> The story is not beta'd, so all errors are my own.
> 
> Disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me, I am just borrowing them temporarily. Also, The 'advice' Joe says his dad taught him is actually from the TV show Point of Interest (episode: If-Then-Else, writer: Denise The). So is the small bit about Queen Isabella. 
> 
> Enjoy,
> 
> Fangirlshrewt97

Nile was bored. There was really no other word to describe how she was feeling. A little restless, unable to sit still, a little distracted, unable to focus. But mostly bored. She had been with her new family for five months now, and they had settled into a pattern of sorts with her training, trying to integrate her better into the team. And she loved the lessons, both the fighting lessons and the more practical stuff.

But at the moment, Copley had said he had a mission in mind but he needed some more time to get a full debrief of the situation, so he had told them to stay close until he was done. The beds in his two guest rooms were luckily big enough to accommodate the four of them, and they had been crashing here for the past week.

A week where Andy had disappeared with or without Copley and turned back up around dinner time, never explaining what she did while away. A week with Joe and Nicky being obnoxiously cute in the ‘adorable, totally makes you believe true love is out there and as good as the books say it’ way, but also ‘so sweet you get a mouthful of cavities just watching them’.

Nile loved her new family, loved them dearly and embraced them as quickly as they embraced her. Even as the pain of leaving her real family behind became a dull ache rather than a sharp pain. Even as there was an undeniable missing Booker-shaped hole.

Andy was scary, and terrifying, but also smart, and brave, and beautiful, and kind. She was what Nile wanted to become, but she also saw the chips in Andy’s soul, the sadness weighing her down even as she passed each day with her held high.

Nicky was disconcerting, and cold, but also sweet, and honest, and big-hearted. He was always at her side when she woke from another nightmare, correcting her posture during her sword lessons and correcting her pronunciation during language lessons. He reminded her of her brother in the most unexpected of ways, making a bitter nostalgia rest on her tongue even as she sought the happiness that came from the small piece of familiarity.

Booker had been scared, and dying, drowning, but also perceptive, and sympathetic, loyal. Nile had argued for a lighter sentence because she had heard the sadness in his voice as he spoke of his family and been reminded of so many others who went to war and died there, even if their bodies came back to continue living. She had known him for three days, nothing at all for immortals who live centuries and millennia.

Joe was comforting, and warm, but also ruthless, and avenging, and protective. Joe had died at the hands of a man and decided to love that man for eternity. Nile did not understand Joe, couldn’t find a connection like with the others.

Andy and her still novel fear of dying, Nicky and his faith, Booker and his ‘youth’.

All of which brought her to her present conundrum. She was laying in her bed at Copley’s while Nicky was cooking downstairs and Andy had gone off to God only knew where. And she was bored because they had told her to enjoy two days without lessons. So here she was, laying on the bed with a tennis ball in her hands she was tossing up and down. (which had definitely not accidentally fallen on her face even once).

Just as she was contemplating getting up to search for a basketball or just go for a run, there was a knock at the door before it cracked open.

“Nile?” Joe asked, still standing at the door, unable to see her.

“Hey Joe. Come on in.” Nile said as she sat up in bed. The man entered the room, one of his bright smiles lighting up his face, and the room by extension. Nile automatically smiled back. “What’s up?”

“Oh nothing. I just realized we hadn’t seen you all day and thought to check up on you.”

Right. There may have been an incident or two of a panic attack she had had over being immortal and not adjusting fully to the situation. It was almost funny in hindsight, how much more panicked Andy had looked trying to calm her down than in a room with twenty guns pointed at her very mortal body. Since then, the three had been very sweet but unsubtle in their efforts to make sure she didn’t have another breakdown.

“I’m fine Joe.” she said, emphasizing the words to make sure they got through.

Joe’s lips quirked up as he entered the room further, till he was leaning against the edge of the bed.

“Sure?”

“Well, I am contemplating experimenting with different ways to die just to test them out you know. Was thinking of writing a list I could work down.”

Joe laughed. “If you want to be creative about it, I think there is a phone game called Dumb Ways to Die?”

Nile huffed a laugh. “I’ll check it out.”

“Hmm.” Joe said, crossing his arms. “Bored, are you?”

“Out of my mind.” Nile admitted.

Joe seemed to think for a moment before nodding. “Right. Come on, I think I have a cure for your boredom.”

He headed for the door, leaving behind a Nile who blinked at his retreating back before scrambling to follow him, leaving the tennis ball on the bedside drawer.

She followed him down the stairs, past the kitchen where Nicky waved at her as she passed and into the living room. Joe smiled at her.

“Wait here a minute, I’ll be right back.” he said cryptically before disappearing behind his and Nicky’s bedroom door.

Nile sat on the sofa, placing her hands under her thighs to resist the urge to fidget with them. As promised, Joe appeared a moment latter, carrying a square case under his arm. He came to sit on the opposite end of the couch, playing the case between them.

The case was made of solid wood, with a small silver-coloured latch on the side.

“This is just my travel set, I have beautiful sets in our safe houses, but this one is sturdy enough to withstand some wear.”

“It’s a chess set.” Nile remarked as Joe open the latch, turning it over to dump the pieces on the sofa.

He righted the board before holding up a white and black piece. “You’ve played, I hope?”

Nile nodded. “I’m not very good though.”

Joe smiled. “Good. That means there is a lot I can teach you. So, black or white?”

Nile debated for a second before grabbing the black pawn.

“Ok, I start then.” Joe said as he picked out the white pieces and arranged them on the board, Nile copying him with her own black pieces.

Once the board was set, Joe pulled out the pawn in front of his king two places. 

Nile brought her corresponding pawn two places forward, placing it directly in front of Joe’s.

Joe moved his queen to the edge of the board, placing it on the same line as her pawn.

Nile thought for a moment before moving her king one step forward.

Joe smirked and cut her pawn. “Checkmate.”

“Wait, what?” Nile said. But Joe was right, there was no piece she could place in front of the king, and no where she could move him without being cut.

“This isn’t fair Joe.”

Joe laughed and reset his pieces before resetting Nile’s. “No it isn’t azizati, I have been playing this game for a very long time you know.”

“I’m not playing with you again.” Nile said.

Joe just continued to laugh. “Come, Chess is the greatest game humanity ever invented.”

“Games are mostly fun because of the possibility of winning Joe.” Nile argued.

Joe conceded with a bow of his head. “True. I will go easy on you. You can also be white this time.”

He turned the board so she had the white pieces. She squinted at him, but when he just kept smiling, she sighed and moved her pawn in front.

Joe smiled and mirrored her.

This time, she moved her horse out.

Joe was quiet as he moved his own horse out. He copied her moves for a couple more steps before changing the pattern. Ten minutes into the game, Nile had, with great difficulty managed to capture two of Joe’s pawns and one of his bishops. Joe had gotten three of her pawns, one of her horses, one of her bishops, and one of her rooks.

Nile did not pout because she was a grown woman, thank you very much. But it was a near thing. “This supposed to be you going easy on me?”

“You will not learn if you do not face struggle azizati.” Joe said gravely before cracking up.

“What does that mean?” Nile asked as she moved her remaining horse to cut another of Joe’s pawns.

“What?” Joe asked with a small furrow in his brow as he moved one of his pawns forward.

“The Arabic word. Azizati.” Nile said. She brought her horse to Joe’s last line.

“Oh, it’s just a term of affection. It translates to ‘my dear’ roughly. Do you not want me to use it?” Joe asked, looking at her.

Nile blushed before shaking her head. “No…no it’s fine. Was just curious.”

Joe shot her such a charming smile, Nile’s shoulders shook with a laugh. How could this 900+ year old man be so boyishly charming. It was annoying as hell.

“Tell me Nile, what do you know about chess?” Joe asked as he moved his remaining bishop to a square. “Check.”

“What do you mean?” Nile asked as she responded by blocking the way with a pawn.

“The history of the game. Its origins. The story of chess.” Joe elaborated. He moved his rook ahead. He looked at the game board and then at her, shit-eating grin in place. “Checkmate.”

Nile looked at the board, then at him. “Fuck off Joe.”

Joe burst out laughing, so loud and boisterous it brought Nicky to the room.

“What’s going on here?” Nicky asked as he looked at the scene they made with a look that was equal parts amused and fond.

“Your husband is a little shit.” Nile said.

Nicky joined into Joe’s laughter. “Ah, yes. Yes he is Nile.”

Joe made an amused sound of offense. “Nicolo, hayati, how can you injure me so?”

“I feel no regrets, amore, same as you not feeling an ounce of remorse for crushing our baby mercilessly.”

To add salt to the wound, he high-fived Nile. Joe pouted.

“Serves you right Joe.”

“Nile,” he did not quite whine, but…

Nicky took pity on him. “Nile, how about one more game?”

“Against you?” Nile asked, even as Joe sat up straighter and reminded her of a dog excitedly wagging his tail.

“No.” Nicky said firmly, before winking at her. “You and me against Joe.”

Joe’s mouth opened in shock, making Nile cackle. “You know what, that’s an acceptable deal. Let’s play Joe!”

“You’re cooking dinner! You can’t play!”

“Dinner is practically done, I kept a lasagna in the oven which should take at least another 25 minutes to cook. I am confident we can trounce you by then.”

Nile took great pleasure in arranging the pieces even as Joe continued to pout. Nicky merely grabbed a chair from the dining room and brought it to sit next to Nile.

The game was fun, Nicky pointing out all the possible moves she had open but letting her make the choice. Joe kept complaining the whole time, but it was good natured ribbing.

“You do realize hayati, your track record of winning at chess against me is not that great either?”

“Don’t listen to him Nile, let’s just try our best.”

In the end though, Joe managed to pull a win with the skin of his teeth, using a single rook and pawn-turned-Queen.

He was very obnoxious in his victory. Nile felt a small spike of vindication when she threw her King at him and it hit him between the eyes. Nicky snorted before getting up. “That was fun. I am going to check on dinner. Nile, do try not to destroy the pieces though, he is very fond of that board.”

Nile nodded before curling into the couch, leaning her body sideways with her feet tucked under her. She opened the board and returned the nearby pieces inside the case, and Joe joined her, doing the same. She leaned back as he finished arranging the pieces.

“I don’t know anything about it.” she said.

Joe looked at her, raising an eyebrow at the seeming non-sequitar.

“Chess. You asked me if I know its history. Before Nicky joined. I don’t know, I didn’t really play it all that much growing up. Chess was my dad’s game, so we didn’t play it that much when he wasn’t home.”

Joe smiled. “Chess is a beautiful game Nile, it has gone through so many changes, evolving with the time. So many meaning and symbolisms. Do you want to hear about it?”

Nile nodded, settling in more deeply into the couch.

“Chess evolved from a game played in Northern India tracing back almost 1500 years ago called Chaturanga,” Joe started. “There is a myth with a cruel king, but I can’t remember it right now. The game was brought from India to Arabia in the 6th century, and then to southern Europe by the expanding Islamic empire. In Europe, the church tried to ban chess multiple times, and the pieces evolved too, both their names and their moving capabilities.”

“Hold on, why would the Church ban chess?” Nile asked.

Joe shrugged. “The usual reasons, they felt like the people who would play it would develop ideas against the church or the Powers that Were.”

Nile’s mouth twisted in a frown on dissatisfaction.

“It wasn’t just the church, there was a time in the 9th century when chess was banned in some Islamic states too.”

Nile hummed. “So what were the changes to chess?”

“Well, this piece for example,” Joe said, holding up a rook, “is called an elephant in the Middle east and India even today. But Europeans did not fight wars with elephants, so the name was modified to what did exist there. It is the piece who’s name has changed the most. It can be called rook or tower.”

He pulled out a Queen. “In the original game, this piece was called Vizir, or minister, but then was changed to Queen.”

“How come?”

“Ah, a fun story.” Joe said, spinning the piece in his hands. “The Queen used to be one of the weakest pieces. They played chess in the Royal Court of Spain in the 15th century. Queen Isabella was offended. She asked her advisers if they thought her that feeble. Their response was to make her the most powerful piece in the game.”

“Badass Queen.” Nile said.

“Hmm.” Joe agreed.

He replaced the Queen with a Horse. “This piece is called a horse in Arabic and Persian, but some English countries call them knights.”

“Cool.” Nile said as she took the piece from his hand, running her finger over the horse head. “So you have been playing for how long now?”

“My father taught me.” Joe said, eyes going distant, probably recalling a long forgotten memory. “So, about 950 years?”

Nile hit him in the face with a pillow. “A cheater on top of being an ass!”

Joe laughed as he grabbed the pillow from her. “I surrender, I surrender.” he said as he held up his arms to cover his face, a wide smile splitting his face.

Nile relinquished the pillow to him. “I know there are chess competitions. Have you ever participated in one?”

If possible, Joe’s grin became even more shit-eating. Nile looked at him warily. “What?”

“I participated in the first ever world Chess competition in 1886.”

Nile’s jaw dropped. “You did not.”

“I did. Got third place too.” He sounded smug, but Nile laughed in his face, making him confused. “What?”

“You would have been playing the game for 700 years by that point and you still couldn’t defeat someone who had been playing for how long, 30-40 years?”

“Steinitz was 49.” Joe grumbled, making Nile laugh harder. This time he threw the pillow at her.

“You know what Joe, I changed my mind. Teach me this game. I’m sure I’ll be able to beat you after another 40 years.” Nile said, smile wolf-sharp.

Joe gave her the stink eye. “Arrogance will be your downfall Freeman.”

“We will see about that. Show me your moves!” Nile crowed.

The two set up the pieces again, Nile sitting back and watching as Joe walked her through different strategies to finish games quickly.

After five possible strategies though, Joe reset the games and proposed a rematch.

“Hold on, this is too much.” Nile said.

“I thought you wanted me to teach you how to play.” Joe said.

“I do, but this is a lot. It feels like, like,” Nile waved her hands, “there’s so many ways to start, I don’t know where to start.

Joe sighed. “Nile, I am going to give you the advice I remember my dad giving me. But bear in mind, it has been several centuries so I am going to paraphrase it ok?”

Nile nodded.

“Chess is first and foremost a game of adaptability, even more than one of strategy. Because to win, you need to be able to predict, or at least make a good guess about your opponent’s moves, and choose the option that maximizes the benefits for you, which minimizing them for your opponent. Each possible move represents a different game. A different universe in which you make a better move. By the second move, there are 72,084 possible games. By the third, 9 million. By the fourth there are more possible games of chess than there are atoms in the universe. Which means that that first move can be terrifying.”

“So how do you make the first move?”

“The first move is the furthest point from the end of the game, there's a virtually infinite sea of possibilities between you and the other side. But it also means that if you make a mistake, there's a nearly infinite amount of ways to fix it. So you should simply relax and play.” Joe finished.

Nile’s shoulders slumped as she considered the board, her fingers hovering over the pieces.

Finally, she moved her pawn ahead.

Joe smiled. “Chess is also a game of heart as much as of brain Nile. The way you play reveals a lot about you. You are so cautious about your pieces, you are more concerned about making sure your pieces don’t get cut than using them in the best possible way to finish the game quickly.”

Nile looked at him. “How do you play?”

Joe’s lips quirked. He moved his horse forward. “ My King is my most important piece, and I will do whatever it takes to protect him. And my Queen is his best protector, so she is the one I will use at every chance if safe.”

Nile felt like there was a deeper meaning that she wasn’t grasping right then, but she didn’t want to ask right then, so she moved her own horse out.

The game continued at a sedate pace, Joe letting her think as long as needed. In the end, Joe won, but Nile had managed to get him down to just his queen and his rook again, probably because he let her, but she would count it.

A slow clap startled the pair, who turned to see Andy leaning against the doorway watching them. “Good job Nile.”

“I didn’t win Andy.”

“On the contrary, you actually played through a game with him. I lost the patience for it many centuries ago.”

“Oh come now boss, I think you have played a grand total of three games straight through with me.” Joe teased.

Andy shrugged her devil-may-care shrug. “Nicky was calling for you.”

“Ah, Nile, azizati, would you mind putting the board away?”

“No problem.”

“Thank you sweet girl.” Joe said, kissing her on the top of the head before leaving. Nile heard him greet Nicky with a “Re del mio cuore!”

Nile squinted at the doorway. “Andy?”

The eldest immortal hummed as she also looked at the kitchen.

“What does Re mean in Italian?”

Andy smirked. “King.”

Fucking incurable romantic, chess cheating, asshole.

**Author's Note:**

> Translations (I've gotten all of these off of Google, so if I misused them or mistranslated, please let me know!):
> 
> Azizati: Arabic for 'my dear'  
> Hayati: Arabic for 'my life'  
> Amore: Italian for 'my love'  
> Re del mio cuoro: Italian for 'King of my Heart'
> 
> I got all the chess facts from chess.com and The History of Chess (https://www.ichess.net/blog/history-of-chess/)
> 
> Also, I am still open to different 'bonding' ideas between this immortal family, so if you have any, please feel free to share.  
> If there is anything else I missed, please let me know!
> 
> And finally, I hope you enjoyed the story. If you want to come chat, you can find me at fangirlshrewt97.tumblr.com!


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